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HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIPS 2025: SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY – Checkbook asked shopping experts for their advice on how to find the best deals and avoid the bogus sales. Plus, the smart ways (and the really costly ways) to pay for your holiday purchases.
CRYPTOCURRENCY IS MAINSTREAM BUT STILL INCREDIBLY RISKY – Despite warnings about volatility, scams, and lax regulatory oversight, digital currencies have become part of the financial mainstream. While this modern-day gold rush has made people (mostly insiders) incredibly rich, many others have lost money to scams.
LENGTHLY CAR LOANS CAN COST YOU THOUSANDS – To lower their monthly payments, many car buyers are taking out longer loans. But that will drive up the total interest paid, and keep you upside-down on that loan for much longer.
Consumerpedia, Episode 95: CRYPTOCURRENCY: COINS, CONS & CHAOS – It’s a modern-day gold rush. Millions of Americans are buying digital currencies despite the known risks. Crypto is virtually unregulated, highly volatile, and not backed by any government or tangible asset. And, of course, digital money can be hacked.
SCAM ALERT: FAKE LOAN APPROVAL ROBOCALLS – Identity thieves have found a new way to steal our personal financial information: By calling with an “update” on a loan you never applied for. These scammers are aggressively targeting consumers nationwide.
Consumerpedia, Episode 94: OUR EDITORS’ FAVORITE WEBSITES & APPS – The editors and researchers at Checkbook use a variety of consumer-oriented websites and apps to get accurate and unbiased information. In this episode, we’ll highlight some of our favorites and why we find them to be valuable tools.
NEW ATTEMPT TO STOP ROBOCALL EPIDEMIC – Nomorobo, a robocall blocking service, has taken the unusual step of suing four companies—all debt collectors—it claims are “significant violators” of a federal law that bans most robocalls.
HOME INSURANCE CRISIS: SOARING PREMIUMS & INADEQUATE PAYOUTS – The skyrocketing cost of home insurance far exceeds the rate of inflation. As a result, millions of homeowners are cutting back on coverage or going without, putting their finances at risk. Some insurance companies are also “lowballing” claims.
FTC SECURES HISTORIC $2.5 BILLION SETTLEMENT FROM AMAZON – Amazon will pay a civil penalty of $1 billion and refund $1.5 billion to approximately 35 million customers harmed by what the FTC described as “deceptive Prime enrollment practices,” and make it easier for customers to cancel in the future.
DELTA’S BIZARRE CREDIT CARD POLICY NEARLY STRANDED ME IN LONDON – My wife and I were blindsided by a poorly disclosed Delta Airlines policy that nearly cost us thousands of dollars. And this is not an isolated case.